Nurse Rushes to Save a Dying Man, Discovers It's Her Husband

A retired nurse in London was walking home when she saw an elderly man hit by a falling traffic light. She rushed to help and realized the victim was her husband. That's what a London court was told this week in the trial of a man charged with reckless driving. Read on to find out what happened.

On Jan. 11, 2020, Roseangela Varone, 51, was walking home from a grocery store in south London when she saw a car mount a median, knocking a traffic light onto Luigi Varone, 69. The accident happened 150 feet from the Varones' home. Prosecutors told the Southwark Crown Court that Mourad El Maddioudi, 35, was driving a Ford Focus that traversed the median, bringing the traffic light down onto Luigi Varone. The retired British Gas engineer died from head injuries.  El Maddioudi was charged with death by careless driving; he pleaded not guilty.

At trial this week, the prosecutor said El Maddioui was speeding and turned his car into the path of a car driven by a man named Sangal who had the right-of-way, the Telegraph reported. "Mr. Sangal was traveling at about 35 mph in a 30 mph zone. At this point, the two cars collided. The collision deviated Mr. Sangal's Ford Focus from its path into a pedestrian island," the prosecutor said.  "The Ford Focus collided with a pedestrian traffic signal, which in turn struck a pedestrian standing on the pavement, Luigi Varone, killing him," he said. The prosecutor said the issue for the trial was El Maddioudi's standard of driving. 

"He should not have crossed the opposing lane without checking for oncoming traffic," the prosecutor said. "The fact that he did was a cause of Mr. Varone's death that was more than minimal."  He continued: "Roseangela Varone was Mr. Varone's wife. They were to be going to a restaurant in Fulham later in the evening. She was returning to the flat from the local Sainsbury's when she heard a loud bang and saw two cars had collided, hitting a traffic light which in turn had hit a man."

"She went to help as she used to be a nurse. She then realized it was her husband." Mr. Varone was pronounced dead at the scene.

The court heard testimony from a witness to the accident. "I saw a car go through the light, which was green. It skidded and swerved to avoid the car. It hit the island, hit the post, and hit the guy on the head," Philip Jeffries said.  Mr. Varone died after suffering a "devastating injury" to the right side of his head, a coroner testified. "The appearance of this injury is wholly consistent with a strike from the upright of the traffic light column and has given rise to major skull fracture and brain injury," said pathologist Dr. Ashley Fegan-Earl. "In my opinion, this was a non-salvageable head injury and I note that CCTV shows no evidence of movement following this collision."

 While it's unclear how close the driver was to his house, it has been long established that a majority of auto crashes happen close to home.  According to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, 52 percent of auto accidents happen within five miles of home, and about 43 percent of accidents happen within the first 10 minutes of a trip. Some of the likely causes: Overconfidence on familiar streets, distraction, complacency, and fatigue.